Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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805. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if the carbon sequestration potential of forests and the forestry sector will be included in the revised model of assessing carbon emissions compliance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8482/20]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The LULUCF Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2018/841) has established the mechanisms whereby from 2021 onwards emissions and removals from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry will be integrated into the EU Framework for compliance with national emissions targets. It is important to note that emissions and removals of greenhouse gases associated with land-based activities are reported in a different category to those associated with agricultural activity, in line with international reporting guidelines. Under the Effort Sharing Regulation (Regulation (EU) 842/2018), Ireland can avail of credits of up to 26.8MtCO2eq associated with land use, including forestry, over the period 2021 to 2030. Thus for 2030, under EU legislation, Ireland will be able to use a limited amount of removals associated with land-based activities, including forestry, in meeting our 2030 emissions reductions target under the Effort Sharing Regulation.

Forestry provides verifiable removal and storage of CO2 from the atmosphere and will help Ireland in meeting our EU commitments over the period 2021 to 2030. The Government's Climate Action Plan identifies how Ireland will achieve its 2030 targets for carbon emissions, and sets us on a trajectory which would be consistent with net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Under the Climate Action Plan, it is estimated that afforestation and the sustainable management of existing forests will result in a cumulative abatement of 21 MtCO2eq over the period 2021-2030, based on a target afforestation rate of 8,000 hectares per annum.